What this means for your practice
Make ownership explicit at each administrative stage. Review escalation rules with the accountable team rather than treating a software timer as the organisation's incident policy.
An example to discuss with your team
Remove the assigned reviewer from the team; the open item should enter a managed reassignment process.
What to ask before you choose
Ask your supplier what happens to open reports when a reviewer goes on leave or leaves the organisation. Use a fictional case that has already been reassigned once. The history should explain the handovers, and the new reviewer should see the next administrative action. Escalation timings should follow decisions made by the responsible team.
Make handover a visible action
Agree how a reviewer accepts responsibility and what happens if they cannot take the work. A report that is simply placed in a shared list may still be unowned. The responsible lead should be able to see unallocated items and know who is expected to resolve the gap.
Test a handover midway through a review using fictional information. The replacement should find the current position, the next action and relevant earlier decisions without relying on a private message from the previous reviewer. Keep reasons for reassignment understandable, particularly when work moves across teams. During leave planning or staff departures, review open work as well as account access. Removing a person's login does not by itself arrange cover for their tasks. Ask the accountable team how urgent or overdue items should be escalated and confirm that the software's notifications reach the role actually covering the work.
How to check the result
Count unassigned reports and administrative actions with no follow-up owner.
Turn reading into a next step
Your action checklist
Work through these checks with your team or supplier. Tick the ones you have resolved and leave unknowns open.
Record what you know, what is still missing and the answer you need from your team or supplier.
Use project decisions only, without personal, patient or confidential details. Entries stay in this page and are not submitted to Kay & Co. Copy or download before leaving; this page does not save your notes.
Further reading
These sources provide background for the topic. The practice examples and checklist are illustrative planning suggestions from Kay & Co.
Related guides
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